


To Save: Year One

by PotterPerson (Nikkilynnc100302)



Series: To Save [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Animagus, Animagus Draco Malfoy, Animagus Harry Potter, Bottom Draco Malfoy, Bottom Remus Lupin, Boys In Love, Creature Draco Malfoy, Creature Fic, Creature Inheritance, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Gay, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Gay Sex, Gay Sirius Black, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Narcissa Black Malfoy, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, James Potter Lives, Lesbian Character, Lily Evans Potter Lives, Love, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, Lucius Malfoy's A+ Parenting, M/M, Molly Weasley Bashing, Mpreg, No Lesbians Die, Powerful Draco Malfoy, Powerful Harry, Remus Lupin Lives, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Sirius Black Lives, Slytherin, Slytherin Common Room, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherin Pride, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Top Harry, Top Sirius Black, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-08-25 20:59:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikkilynnc100302/pseuds/PotterPerson
Summary: On the night Draco was born, December 31, 1980, his father was arrested. His mother was responsible for the arrest of three other death eaters. The Potters were saved by the arrest of Peter Pettigrew. Harry Potter was attacked anyway. So was Draco Malfoy. They grow up in a different world to be different people. How do things go this time?





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is an important note. Please read. 
> 
> I am bad at schedules. I also get insecure about my writing and am prone to deleting or extensively editing things. But I am trying. I am currently an honor roll student in the 10th grade and I find I don't have too much time for writing anything that isn' t an essay. But I am trying very hard and I hope you all understand that. I have found nothing but support on this platform and I hope that continues with this story. I will upload when I can but be patient with me, please. I love writing and I want to share that with others and get better at it at the same time. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

On December 31, 1980, four very important things happened. The first, Draco Malfoy was born. He was born two months early and placed in the magical NICU. A nervous mother sat on her own, looking at her so very small child. They told her he was going to be there a while but that was all they would tell her. Her husband, a horrible man, was being dragged by Aurors into the ministry of magic. There, he would be informed of the birth of his child and the charges being pressed against him. Narcissa was visited that night by more Aurors. There she gave them the names of three people. Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Rodulphus Lestrange. James and Lily Potter were moved to a safe house where Sirius Black would be named secret keeper. Lastly, but certainly not least, there was a prophecy made.

Two leaders, destined for great things.  
A darkness they must destroy to let the light in  
A loyal family  
A rough journey  
And a soulbond  
To save them from themselves  
To save them from the world  
To save everyone

On November 1, 1981, the Potter's dropped their son off at the Longbottom home while they visited their best friends to celebrate their engagement. The Longbottoms were attacked in an act of revenge from Voldemort. He found the Potter boy there as well and quickly ended the torture of Frank and Alice with a quick killing curse. He passed the room where Neville Longbottom slept peacefully and found Harry Potter across the hall, whimpering quietly. His eyes landed on the frightening figure walking through the darkness and into the room, and he sniffled once before falling silent. He raised his wand and broke the silence of the room with a shout of "Avada Kadavra!"

It was just ten minutes later that the Potters returned to the home. They found their friends first, bloody and lifeless. With shouts of, "Harry! Neville!" They ascended the stairs. Lily went into the room with Harry to find her son with nothing more than a scar, or so she thought. James found Neville in the other room, scared but unharmed. They brought both boys home and called Lily's good friend, Severus Snape.

"Lily? What happened?" He asked when he found her and James huddled close on the couch, shaking.

"We left Harry with the Longbottoms to go visit Sirius and Remus. When we got back, they had been killed. Harry and Neville seemed okay but Harry has this odd scar. We don't know where it came from. We were hoping you could take a look at it, without saying anything to Dumbledore." Lily answered.

"Of course. But what happened to the Longbottom boy? Did you let the ministry know about what happened?" The potions master asked.

"Of course we did. The Aurors said Harry was the first person to survive Voldemort and the killing curse. But I needed to hear it from someone I trust." Lily responded, prompting the potions master to smile at her knowingly and do as she asked. When he affirmed what the Aurors had said, Lily burst into tears. Severus returned the child quietly and left her to be comforted by her husband. He went back to his own spouse.

It was next year on that same day that Draco Malfoy got his own scar. His own father had escaped Azkaban. He had come home to find his wife in bed with Severus Snape. He left them there, saving them for last with the knowledge that the loss of her child would be more painful than anything when he was ready to torture her. He took quiet steps into the boy's nursery. He found the boy sleeping soundly. He brushed the boy's white-blonde hair out of his eyes with his wand, using a cutting curse to leave a bloody would from his forehead to his chin. The boy woke at the first touch, screams resounding around the room, and thankfully, down the hall. Severus and Narcissa shot awake. Severus assured Narcissa that he would take care of it and she laid back down with a simple thanks. Severus walked briskly into his godson's room and was shocked to find Lucius Malfoy holding a knife in the air, over the crib of an innocent baby. He grabbed the knife over Lucius's hands and brought it down into the man's gut. Lucius, in his shock, did little to fight back.

"You will never hurt **my** family again. That's a  **promise**." He twisted the knife a little more on each word until he believed the other man was dead. Severus dropped the man to the floor and lifted his godchild into his arms. He saw the cut on his face and almost cried at the pain he must have felt. 

He called for Narcissa who called for the Aurors while he healed the cut on Draco's face. But it was no use as there was a smooth white scar from his temple to his chin. That night, they both cried for the hurt their son endured at the hands of a monster. 

Just eleven years later, these two families were united through two special boys.


	2. The Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco meet for the first time on the train to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I just wanna say that the last chapter was only so short because it was just supposed to share the backstory. This one should be longer. Let me know what you think!
> 
> PS: Ron is a bit of a git in this but he doesn't stay that way, promise.

It wasn't as if Draco wasn't excited to start at Hogwarts. He was quite excited to learn so many new things. He was, however, scared to meet all of his other year mates. He was younger than everyone as his birthday was in December but the headmaster believed it would be okay for him to go early. He also didn't know anyone except for Theodore Nott and he wasn't a very close friend. What if no one liked him? What if he made friends but they got into different houses and stopped talking to him? These were serious worries he had. His mother laughed when he voiced them to her. 

"Everything will be alright. Your father and I will both be there, so you won't be alone. I'm sure everyone will love you. If someone can't see how great you are, it's not worth being friends with them." She had told him. But now, as he sat in an empty compartment on the train, he wasn't so sure. His parents had apparated to Hogwarts early and he was all alone. 

It was almost eleven when the train would be leaving, and Draco was still alone in his compartment. He had settled down with his charms book and had long ago stopped glancing at the compartment door. That was why he jumped so hard when the door slammed open. Whoever it was laughed hard at his expense and was left with only a hard glare from Draco. In the doorway stood a boy with bright red hair and a smirk. 

"Hey, there's a Malfoy in here. Better find another compartment. This one's dirty." He sneered. 

"Actually, I go by Draco Snape and this compartment wasn't dirty before you got here." Draco shot back calmly, eyes back on his charms book. 

A boy that was standing behind the redhead snickered. "He got you there. Shove off."

The redhead left with a huff and a disbelieving glance at the boy behind him who came into the compartment, shutting the door softly and smiling at Draco. 

"Hello." Draco said, scared the boy would reject him. 

"Hi. My name is Harry, and you are?"

"Well, I think I already said so but I'm Draco." Draco couldn't help the breath of laughter as he said this. Harry joined added his own as well. 

"Sorry, and I'm sorry about Ron. He never was one to overlook prejudice for just anyone."

"That much is obvious with the way he said my name. Probably thinks Lucius is secretly alive and is teaching me to be a git. That's what the last one said."

"That's ridiculous. But maybe not as bad as the guy who said that Voldemort is my real father and I got his genetics."

"I wonder, was that before or after he tried to kill you?" Harry and Draco laughed for quite a while over the crazy things people assumed based on their pasts. That was until someone opened the compartment door. The boy was a bit chubby and looked nervous when he spotted Draco. Draco's own eyes shot to the window. 

"Hey, Harry. Fred and George sent me to see if you wanted to come to sit with them. Said you could bring your friend." The boy said.

"Sure, if you're okay with that?" Harry directed the question at Draco, which shocked him. 

"You're asking me?" He said, still shocked. 

"Of course, we're friends now. C'mon." Harry held out his hand for Draco. He looked at it for just a moment before taking it in his own with a grin. Both boys felt a shock through their bodies but both chose to ignore it. 

Draco followed Harry and the boy to the compartment. Inside, he found a group of five others, excluding him and Harry. He learned that the group consisted of Fred and George Weasley, Ron, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom. He learned a lot about these people throughout the ride. He learned that Neville and Harry were brothers, he learned Hermione was a muggle-born, and he learned that his hedgehog did not like Ron. 

He had found a hedgehog in Diagon Alley when he was 4. The animal had a spell that kept him in a stasis so he would stay about a year old. His name was Spines and Draco took him everywhere. He had shot Ron with one of his quills when he the boy made a nasty remark about Narcissa. Everyone but Ron found it all very funny. 

Finally, it was almost the end of the journey when someone brought up houses. Draco had been avoiding this topic like the plague. This question only leads to people knowing about his father teaching potions. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his father. It's just that others tended to not like him and that often translated to not liking Draco as well. 

"What house do you think you'll be, Draco?" Harry asked after everyone had said Gryffindor. 

"Well, you know my father is Severus Snape. He's head of Slytherin so probably Slytherin." He answered nervously. Ron laughed. 

"See, I told you all he's an evil git." The redhead bragged. Draco looked down to his lap where his hands were shakily running over the stomach of his pet. 

"Shut up, Ron. The house we get into has nothing to do with what we are motivated to do. I may even be a Slytherin. Hermione could be a Ravenclaw. Fred is dating a Hufflepuff and George is with a Slytherin. Do you think we should all be condemned by those things? I think you just have a problem with Draco's background, even though he hasn't even done anything to you. You are the only one that has any problem with any of this." Harry was oddly calm saying these things. Ron turned very red in the face but shut his mouth. The rest of the ride was pretty quiet but thankfully it wasn't long. 

Getting out of the train, Draco started shivering immediately. It was very cold and crowded. He hated crowds. There was a call for first years by a giant oaf of a man. Harry gestured for him to follow. He almost got lost between the other students a few times so Harry grabbed his hand. That feeling of electricity shot through them again. Both felt a little breathless but managed to make it to Hagrid, as Harry called him. 

"'Ello there Harry. Who's yer friend?" Hagrid asked, gesturing to Draco. 

"Hi. I'm Draco Snape-Malfoy."

The man looked shocked for a moment before a grin broke out on his face and he started talking about how much he loved Draco's mother. It took a few minutes for him to realize he was supposed to be helping the first years. He directed them all to some boats that sat on the dark water of the lake. Harry and Draco ended up in a boat with Hermione and Neville. 

The view was mesmerizing. The lights from the windows of the castle shown brightly in the water. Each light was like a lantern in the sky against the dark of night. 

They made it across quickly. The boats landed with a bump against the shore. There was a rush to get out as everyone was excited and full of nervous energy, to get sorted. It took a while until they finally made it to the great hall, where they would be sorted. He looked around nervously and made eye contact with George, who gave him a thumbs up. Professor Mcgonnagal brought out a stool, a hat, and a list. She opened that list and called the first name.


	3. What the Hell?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron finally comes around and Draco has some weird symptoms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all. I really like this chapter and I hope you do too. Please don't get mad at me but I kept getting this creature fic in my mind. No worries, it has little to no effect on the Drarry relationship. The way I wrote the ending makes it look that way but I promise they aren't cliche veela mates. Sorry if you don't like it but it felt good to write it this way. Also, keep an eye out for a certain turban in the next chapter. ;)
> 
> Enjoy <3

The overall hugeness of the great hall was sudden and overwhelming. Draco almost panicked if not for the slight smile from his parents at the teachers' table and the comforting warmth of Harry standing next to him. He still shook through the sheer force of nerves until Harry grabbed his hand and smiled at him, calming him a little more until he finally felt his muscles release their tension.

Professor McGonagall started the sorting with the unlucky girl to go first, "Abbot, Hannah." 

Draco only really listened for his friends to be called. Or some not so much friends. The first of that category was Hermione, who was sorted into Ravenclaw. Next was Daphne Greengrass, who Draco knew through his mother's business dealings, she was sorted into Slytherin. Following Daphne was Neville, a Gryffindor. Then Draco was called. He moved towards the stool with trepidation building in his stomach. He had a seat on that stool and the hat was placed over his eyes, removing the view of Harry smiling at him.

"Hello. You have quite an interesting mind. You could likely fit in any house. But I see your step-father is Severus." The hat started speaking into his mind, making Draco jump. 

"Father." He interrupted.

"Excuse me?" The hat asked. 

"My biological father is Lucius Malfoy but he deserves no recognition. My father is Severus Snape."

"You are quite the boy. Bounds of courage but not reckless, loyal but not to a fault, smart and witty, ambitious and cunning. You could find your place anywhere but I feel you would be most comfortable in your father's house. The house of SLYTHERIN." The last word was spoken aloud. Before he could take off the hat, he heard the hat whisper something into his ear "The bond is already strong." It almost seemed like he was talking to himself, so Draco disregarded it. Draco turned to grin at his parents before settling in beside Daphne. His eyes met with Harry's and smiled in a way he hoped was comforting. Draco was soon joined by Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson. He knew Theo through Severus because the boy's parents often came by to get potions and would stay for dinner. He didn't really know Pansy but he knew she was friends with Daphne and Theo, who he did know.

Finally, Harry's name was called. He glanced nervously at Draco from his spot on the stool before his eyes were covered by the hat. It was a mere minute before the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN." and Harry took a seat next to Draco with a grin. Draco grinned back, happy to have one of his first real friends with him in his house. 

It was with boredom that Draco saw Ron Weasley go to Gryffindor and Blaise Zabini come to Slytherin. He barely knew Zabini and Ron didn't seem to have any interest in being his friend. He realized Harry was the only friend from the train in Slytherin with him. That was kind of saddening but Draco was determined not to fall prey to the easy pull of prejudice. Harry snapped him out of his thoughts and for the rest of the feast, he stayed away from thinking about that again.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Draco found that he quite enjoyed speaking to those in his house. There were a few other first years that were giving him odd looks. Besides them, most of the house welcomed him warmly or accepted him quickly. Pansy was quite funny, Blaise was a little lewd sometimes but also quite fun to be around, Daphne and Theo were both quite smart but Theo was much shyer, and Harry was just all around brilliant. Of course, he had his faults but they were small and hardly noticeable. Well, they were to Draco.

While he was having fun, Draco was also quite tired. Harry caught him yawning. 

"Tired? I don't blame you. Today has been tiring. We should be going to the dorms soon." He said, slinging his arm around Draco's shoulders in a friendly manner. The electric tingle went through both boys again, as it had every time they touched, and both ignored it again. 

"Yeah. I wish I could go early. Get to sleep before everyone gets there." Draco yawned again. 

"Wish granted." was whispered into his ear, making Draco jump. It was merely his mother, however, laughing at her success in scaring Draco. They often went back and forth trying to make the other jump. "I saw you yawning down here. Thought I might come to check on you. Come on, I'll take you to your dorm."

Draco waved goodbye to his friends and followed his mother. As they descended to the dungeons, his mother had a question. 

"So, friends with Harry Potter, huh?" She asked, smirking. 

"Yeah. Harry is great, he stood up for me on the train." Draco answered with a grin. 

"He stood up for you? Why did he have to?" She asked. She had been worried about this. Most people knew how Draco got that scar on his face and no one wanted to forgive past mistakes of the Malfoy name. 

"Don't worry. It was just Ron Weasley. I doubt he would do anything anyway. He just kept talking about Lucius and said he believed my genetics made me evil. Nothing I haven't heard before." Draco privately thought he would be stuck with the stigma of his last name for his whole life. Everyone knew his trademark white-blond hair and silver-grey eyes. They matched Lucius's almost exactly, minus the specks of deep blue he inherited from his mother and he never let his hair grow out, afraid to look more like the horrible man. 

"I'm so sorry, honey. The only good that man left behind was our beautiful son. But always know that no matter what anyone says or does, Severus and I will always be there for you. We love you, so much." They had stopped in front of the door to the common room. Narcissa pulled her son into her arms with a sigh. Draco leaned into her touch with a yawn, reminding them why they had come down here in the first place. " Come on, you need to get to bed. Classes start tomorrow." 

Narcissa said the password, ambition, and led Draco inside. He gave a quick glance around, still awed by this school, and made his way up the stairs to the dorms with a wave at Narcissa. He found an empty hall with doors on each side, two names on each door. Every flight of steps ascended was a higher year. Draco stopped after the first and walked down the hall until he found his name. He was at the very end of the hall, and he was rooming with Harry. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Draco woke to light snoring from across the room. It wasn't loud or annoying but it startled him because he was used to sleeping in his own room at home alone. He slowly pushed himself into sitting position and looked around the room. He saw the curtains drawn on the bed across from him and smiled a bit. He checked the time and was surprised to find it was nearly 4 AM. He was usually a heavy sleeper and he never woke up this early. Something was off. 

He shrugged that off for the moment and figured he might as well get a shower in while everyone else was asleep. To his surprise, he found Marcus Flint, captain of the Quidditch team, in there as well. The fifth-year gave him a glare and shoved past him on his way out, knocking Draco into the wall. Draco thought maybe Flint just wasn't a morning person, so pushed to the back of his mind with that weird feeling he had. 

His shower was pretty quick and he just avoided the morning rush. Teeth brushed, dressed, and hair done, Draco made his way back to his dorm. He was getting odd looks from people. Some ignored him, some glared, some grinned but all of them avoided touching him. Of course, he figured something was wrong with him so he practically ran back to his room. Harry was just waking up and was the only one being normal. 

"Why is everyone being so weird?" Draco whined falling back onto Harry's legs before he could move them. 

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, seemingly not bothered by the boy on his legs. 

"People kept looking at me weird. A bunch of them were glaring when I walked past and a few grinned at me from across the room. A couple just ignored me. No one would come close enough to even maybe touch me on accident. It was the weirdest thing." Draco sighed. When he looked up, he found that Harry had sat up and was now looking into his face from above. 

"It's probably nothing. If I had to guess I would say it's your dad. Not in a bad way but maybe they think you'll get special treatment because he's a teacher and head of Slytherin."

"Yeah, you're probably right. You also need to get up and get ready for class. We need to be to breakfast in one hour and class in two." Draco smiled, still not moving off Harry's legs. 

"You'll have to free my legs first unless you rather I just cut them off and leave them here for you?" Harry and Draco laughed as Harry yanked his legs from under Draco's head. 

Draco stayed sprawled across Harry's bed until said boy came back into the room. During that time, he started to feel tired once more. What was wrong with him?

_________________________________________________________________________________

When Harry came back from the bathroom, he was surprised to see Draco asleep. His pale hair was just a little messy and his robes a little wrinkled. Harry privately thought that he looked a bit angelic. He also remembered the bossy boy telling him to get ready and realized they would miss breakfast if he continued staring much longer. He placed his hands on Draco’s shoulders, trying to shake him awake. The boy only grumbled and rolled onto his side. Harry smiled and tried again. This time, silver eyes blinked up at him briefly before they settled back to their normal, more grey tint. 

“Did we miss breakfast?” Draco asked with a yawn, moving just enough to look at Harry. 

“No, we should be able to grab some toast before class starts.” Harry said apologetically. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Draco said while sitting up. “Do you want to grab something?” 

“No, I’m good. Are you okay?” Harry asked. Draco looked pale, was shaking a little, and still looked so tired. Harry was worried. Even if he had only known Draco one day, he quite liked his new friend.

“Yeah, just a little tired. We need to get our schedules but Dad will probably be in his office. He can give them to us.” Draco said this while slowly pushing himself to his feet. Once up, he grabbed his bag and gestured Harry to follow as he left the room. 

Harry reluctantly agreed. It took them only a couple minutes to get to Severus’s office but by the time they made it, Draco was winded. Harry’s concern only grew but he put that aside for now. Severus Snape opened his office door and his first words were old news. “Draco? You look terrible. What’s the matter?” He said, letting both boys into the room.

“Gee, thanks. We just came for our schedules, and nothing’s the matter. I look fine, I feel almost fine. Good enough.” Draco was annoyed now. He was fine. Why did people keep asking? “I swear if someone asks me that again I’ll jump off the astronomy tower.”

Just then, Narcissa entered the room. “Hello Draco, Harry. Oh, Draco, darling, you look terrible. Are you alright?” Harry snickered and Draco groaned, falling back into a chair behind him with a huff. 

“Draco says he looks fine and feels almost fine, says that’s good enough.” Severus informed his wife. 

“Well, I suppose we will see. I have you and Harry for my first period as well as the Gryffindors.” Narcissa told them. She was teaching potions to years 1-4. Severus really hated the younger ones. He could barely deal with the older ones. 

“Cool.” Draco said, looking down at the schedule his father had placed in his hands. He had potions, transfiguration, charms, defense against the dark arts, and history of magic. (I don’t know if that’s the right order or which houses they have each class with. If it’s wrong please don’t come at me.)

“Come along boys. It’s time for class.” Narcissa pecked her husband’s cheek before grabbing both boys by the hand and pulling them to her classroom. Outwardly, Narcissa showed her excitement for her first day as a teacher but internally she was worried about Draco. He looked horrible and sounded even worse. The boy could hardly breathe. There was one thing she suspected it to be but she had hoped he would avoid that particular gene. 

When they arrived, they found themselves face to face with their peers. Now Harry could see what Draco meant earlier. Half of them were grinning madly and waving frantically at the blonde. The other half were glaring at him harshly, even Blaise. Inwardly, Narcissa realized that she would have to talk to Draco and soon. She hated the thought that yet another gene from Lucius’s family would disrupt his life. 

“Alright everyone, into the classroom.” The attention snapped mostly away from Draco and landed on the boy’s mother. She led her class into the room but instructed them not to take their seats yet. She had them all line up in front of her desk. She gave each person a sheet of paper with a list of questions and asked them to fill them out and hand them back when they finished. 

It took about ten minutes but soon enough everyone had handed back all their papers. Narcissa smiled at them started going through the sheets. It seemed that she was using their likes and dislikes to place them with their partners. The students watched as she carefully arranged two papers on each table. She then instructed them to find their papers as that was where they would be sitting. There was a scramble for the students to get to their seats and find out their desk mate. 

There were some very happy students, like Crabbe and Goyle who were placed together. There was a lot more glaring. Draco had been placed with Ron. Glancing at the other boy’s paper he realized that they had a lot of similar answers. Harry was placed with Daphne, Neville with Pansy, and Blaise with Theo.

Narcissa told them that their first assignment was to talk to their seatmates. Draco was more than willing to talk to Ron but the boy completely ignored him. So Draco, frustrated with Ron’s childishness, grabbed the red head’s paper. 

“I see you like Quidditch. I love Quidditch, been playing since I was seven. Dad says I’m a natural chaser. What position do you prefer?” Draco said, hoping to start the conversation and save himself from an awkward conversation. Luckily, it worked. Ron burst out about loving the keeper position, unable to avoid talking about his favorite sport. Draco smiled as the two fell into an easy conversation. From a few seats back, Harry watched the pair with a smile. 

“Draco is a really sweet person. Sometimes he gets scared and he closes up. He has trouble with trust because he never had very good friends aside from Theo. They always had something to say about his scar or the man that gave it to him. He hides his emotions and he will always put others before himself. Be careful with him. He really likes you.” Daphne said, startling the black haired boy. 

“How do you know all this? Draco said that he just knew you from a few business dealings between your parents and his mother.” Harry asked, almost jealous that he didn’t know despite only meeting Draco the day before. 

“People have a lot to say about him.” She said simply with a sad smile. 

Harry looked back down to his blonde friend. The boy was laughing at something Ron had said and Harry was prompted to smile at him once again, this time a bit softer. What he hadn’t noticed was that everyone was still acting a bit weird towards Draco beside him and Ron. Even Daphne kept glancing over with a weird look in her eyes.

Back down at Draco’s table, Ron had just said something about Slytherin. 

“So, now that I’m friends with two Slytherins, I guess I must be an evil git.” Ron joked, prompting Draco’s laughter. 

“I was hoping you would come around. Harry really seems to like being your friend and when you weren’t talking about dirty Slytherins on the train you were actually quite funny. I’m glad to be your evil, dirty, Slytherin friend.” Draco joked back. They both laughed but once they had settled down, Draco got a wave of dizziness. His vision started to blacken and the last thing he saw was Ron reaching out to stop him from falling off his chair. 

Harry watched the whole scene with fear but with a wave of nausea and a burning pain in his chest, he followed Draco into unconsciousness. Everyone was thinking just about the same thing. What the hell?


	4. Malicious Intent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of information is revealed and Harry and Draco have a bonding moment or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little shorter than the last chapter but it just felt right to end it where I did. I like this chapter but it has a lot of information in it that's pretty new.

Draco’s eyes fluttered open reluctantly. He was met with a white ceiling bathed in soft yellow light. He looked to his left and saw his mother’s blonde hair spread around her on the space where she had laid her head. To his right, he saw a bed with a red-headed woman in the same position as his mother. Looking just past her, he caught familiar green eyes as they struggled to open.

“Harry?” Draco whispered. 

“Draco, how are you feeling?” Harry asked, turning to his side to better keep eye contact. Draco followed suit. 

“I’m fine, I think. Do you know what happened?” Draco was worried that he had done something again. He had always had very strong bursts of magic when he was in danger of any kind. Maybe something happened again. 

“You were talking to Ron and things seemed to be going fine until you blacked out. Ron caught you so you wouldn’t hit your head. I got really nauseous and there was this weird burn in my chest before I passed out too. But by the pain at the back of my head, I don’t think I was as lucky as you.” They laughed but apparently, they were a little too loud because both women by their beds shot up with a jolt. 

“Harry?” The red-haired woman, who Draco assumed was Harry’s mother, said at the same time as Narcissa said, “Draco?” 

Harry was pulled into bone-crushing hug while his mother berated him tearfully about “scaring me to death, crazy Potter boys.”

Draco, on the other hand, was being beaten. His mother slapped him upside the head with a glare, hands coming to rest on her hips. “We asked if you were okay and you told us you were. I knew I should have made you stay with your father but I didn’t want you to miss your first day of classes. Now you’ve missed three. You scared me so bad. I knew all that magic would be bad for you but your father insisted that…” She would have kept going if Severus hadn’t come up behind her and covered her mouth with his hand. 

“Um…Sorry?” Draco said, totally confused as to why his mother was so mad at him. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong Draco. Your mother was just worried and we missed you. You were out for three days, both of you.” Severus explained, Narcissa tucked into his chest now. 

Draco reached out and grabbed his mother’s hand. He tugged her gently to him and hugged her as tight as he could. She was always very protective of him which he suspected was because of Lucius. He knew she didn’t want to restrict and shelter him as much as she had but whenever she let loose, she couldn’t handle it. His father had explained it to him when he was younger. 

Mother and son held each other tight, almost afraid to let go. Draco remembered then exactly what his mother had said. He reluctantly pulled away. 

“What do you mean that the magic was bad for me? I’m a wizard.” He said, a little scared for the answer. 

“Well, you’re a little more than that. There are a lot of things you don’t know about Lucius. A lot of things. Well, I found out that the only reason I ever really fell in love with him was only because of his creature inheritance. I was with Severus until we were seventeen and then I met Lucius. He decided he would marry me and used his powers as a frumusetea ascunsa to, basically, force me into marriage. When I got pregnant with you, I was snapped out of some kind of trance he had placed me under. I don’t know what it was but it was like he was a whole different person. He was horrible and horrendously selfish, especially to me, like I was a tool for making an heir. When you were born, he was arrested that night for associating with Voldemort and for using his inheritance for cruelty. An inheritance is considered a gift from magic herself. To use one nefariously is a crime against magic. When he came back, he wasn’t just there to kill you. He was there to check if you inherited his creature genes. I believe he wanted to take you if you had. I never knew if you had inherited them until a few days ago.” She stopped at the horrified look on Draco’s face. He had tears pouring from his eyes at the thought of having another thing in common with Lucius Malfoy. Just one more thing that connected him with the man that caused so much pain to him and his family and left a scar on his face as another reminder. 

Draco didn’t notice things around the room begin to shake. He never heard the potions in the cabinet start to break one by one. He didn’t feel the wind of magic around him. 

Narcissa and Severus backed away, aware of what was happening. Lily tried to pull Harry away but he was too focused on Draco. He pulled himself from his mother’s arms and moved up behind Draco. He wrapped the smaller boy in his arms and, almost in an instant, everything calmed once more. Draco turned in Harry’s arms to sob into the boy’s shoulder. 

The boys’ parents stared at each other in confusion. Could this have anything to do with Draco’s creature genes?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a few hours later, 4 A.M. to be exact. Lily, Narcissa, and Severus had left the boys asleep in Draco’s bed. They had a lot to talk about. Severus led them to his quarters, deep in the dungeons. He found that James Potter had fallen asleep on his couch, Sirius Black was a dog sleeping in front of his fire, and Remus Lupin was sleeping with his head on Sirius. Of course, he would never pass up such an opportunity to scare them. 

Holding a wand to his throat, Severus whispered “Sonorus.” Lily snickered behind him. In a suddenly loud voice, Severus yelled: “Get up, morons!” 

James jumped awake and fell off the couch face first. Sirius snapped his head up and, not realizing Remus had fallen asleep on his back, transformed back into a human. His knee smacked Remus in the back and his head collided the fireplace. Remus jumped so hard he moved backward, catching his sleeve on fire. It was quickly extinguished by Severus, leaving the werewolf soaked to the bone. Severus, Lily, and Narcissa were laughing hard enough to cry in the doorway and three of the mauraders pulled themselves off the floor to glare at them. 

“Okay, you had your laugh. How’s Harry?” Everyone instantly sobered up at the thought of the little boy they had left just a few floors from where they stood. 

“He and Draco are asleep. Draco didn’t take the knowledge of his early inheritance well. His powers started getting out of control. But the weirdest thing happened. Normally, it would take Lucius hours to calm down and whatever room he had been in would be destroyed. But Draco calmed the instant Harry touched him.” Narcissa sat slowly on the couch James had just been on. Severus stood behind her with a worried look and his hands on her shoulders. 

“I feel like I read about this somewhere.” Remus said, leaning back into Sirius’s chest. 

“You’ve read everything Remmy.” Sirius murmured absentmindedly, this being his usual response. 

“No, he’s right. I read it too. It’s a Romanian word. It translated into something odd. I remember being interested in it.” Lily said, slapping away James’s hand as he went to touch her hair. She hated that. 

“It’s prieteni inimii.” James said. When everyone looked at him stunned, he continued. “I used to watch Lily’s every move. When she would read, I always saw her make little notes on the side of the book and then spell them invisible. I learned how to reverse the spell and read through them. There was this one book where she said ‘I hope James is my prieteni inimii. Maybe I could get him to be more mature.’ That was how I knew she liked me back and I asked her out again three days later, my first yes.” 

“That is such an invasion of privacy.” Lily said though she was blushing a little. “Now that you’ve said it, I remember. It means soul friends. Basically, it means that Harry and Draco’s souls were made to complement the other. No matter the way they are brought into the next life, they will always connect in some way. It isn’t the same as soulmates because soulmates are two souls that compliment each other but were not made for the other. Also, while prieteni inimii will always meet in another world, soulmates sometimes do or sometimes don’t. Harry and Draco are, essentially, bound to each other for the rest of eternity. sometimes, if they are strong enough, they can remember their pasts together. But it usually takes some time being together. It doesn’t have to be romantic, it can be any form of a relationship.” 

“Wow.” Sirius was the first to speak after a stunned silence. 

“Yeah. Though I suppose this is a good thing. They’ll never be alone, at least.” James said. 

After a few seconds of silence, Severus stormed into his rooms. Narcissa sighed. “I’m sorry. This is just a lot for him. He and Draco have always been so close. I think he’s just worried.”

“It’s no problem. We really should be getting to bed anyway.” Lily lead her husband out of the room, Remus following. Sirius stayed back a second. 

“I’ve missed you Cissa. Maybe this is a blessing. Maybe we can be a family again.” He pulled his little cousin, by only a month, into his arms with a sigh. 

“I hope so.” She whispered into his chest. 

___________________________________________________________________

By the next morning, everything was back to normal. Mostly. Draco had been given an alternate schedule. This schedule would have him enter a magic-free room for meals where only Harry and his parents were permitted to join him. They told their friends, who seemed pretty okay with it as long as he promised to hang out with them during free periods and on the weekends. The only one who seemed to have a problem was Draco. 

It was the last day that Harry and Draco were to be kept in the infirmary. The last day of that weekend too. Draco was awake, staring at the ceiling above him. Harry was half-asleep in the bed next to his, facing Draco. 

“Dray? Are you okay?” Harry asked, propping himself up on his elbow. 

“I don’t know.” Draco answered, eyes still on the ceiling. Harry frowned and got out of his bed. He motioned for Draco to scoot over and climbed into the bed with him.

“What the matter?” he asked, still facing the other boy. This time, Draco turned to face Harry as well. 

“I feel like I’m a carbon copy of Lucius Malfoy. That’s how people treat me. Now I’m also a freak because of this inheritance thing. What even is a frumusetea ascunsa? I know It’s supposed to be a gift from magic but if it’s a gift from magic, why can’t I be around a lot of magic? What if I turn into my father? Then there’s this prieteni inimii thing. Not that it doesn’t make me glad to know I won’t ever be alone but it feels like I’m strapping you to a bomb by just sharing this bond with you.” Draco looked deeply distraught by his own words. 

“First of all, from what I’ve heard about Lucius Malfoy, you are nothing like him. You are your own person. Second of all, you are not a freak. You are unique. You were given a gift and even if you can’t see that now, I’m sure one day you will. My mom said you can’t be around the magic because there is already so much magic inside of you, wild, untamed magic, that when you come here and you are around it all day, your body can’t handle it so it shuts off the magic around you by, basically, knocking you out. She says once you can control your magic better and when your magic matures, you’ll take the extra magic in your stride. You won’t turn onto your father because you are a good person. I love this prieteni inimii thing. Being lonely has always been a big fear of mine because I didn’t have many friends besides my brother. I didn’t meet the Weasleys until I was ten. So to know that I won’t be alone feels…nice.” Harry smiled at his prieteni inimii. The other boy scooted into the brunette’s side and made himself relax. 

Draco felt lips on his forehead and looked up into green eyes. “That’s what my mom does when I’m sad.”

“Thank you, Harry.” Draco lay on his best friend, his prieteni inimii, and relaxed for the first time since he had woken up. 

Little did they know, there was a shadow watching them. A shadow with malicious intent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *prieteni inimii- soul friends  
> *frumusetea ascunsa- hidden beauty
> 
> I was really unsure about these names. Let me know what you think and if you have any better suggestions I would love to hear them. I hope you enjoyed. :)


	5. Dark Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain relative decides to pay a visit. Azkaban isn't as secure as they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been having a little trouble recently. I get migraines and recently I've been experiencing a really bad one. Luckily, staying in bed in the dark all day has given me some time to think and I have decided to brave the pain of my computer light to try and continue writing this. I am trying my best and I hope you enjoy. :)

Draco decided that classes were boring. Being raised by professors had plenty of ups and downs. For example, he was usually the smartest kid in class and the quickest to catch onto new things but the downside was that he already knew most of the stuff they were telling him because he had read it in their extensive library or his parents had already taught him. It made Hermione endlessly frustrated that Draco took to the material so much better without even studying. He had joined Harry in his avoidance of doing work but still managed to land just above Hermione in all of their classes. He hadn't even noticed until Hermione yelled at him for it. 

"You can't do that Draco! If you put real effort into your work and did better than me in classes, it wouldn't be such a big deal but you don't. You sit around with Harry and Ron while they do nothing and you do all your work the day it's due. I have no clue how you do it." Hermione had accosted him while he sat under a tree by the lake with Harry, Ron, Blaise, and Theo. 

"Well, I've known most of it my entire life. My mom and dad were away teaching potions here all the time so I would read the whole time they were gone or I would go flying. I used to read charms books until I passed out, as a bedtime story. Not to mention the fact that I've been brewing potions since I was six." Draco never moved from where he sat as Hermione yelled. He was laying spread out on the ground. His feet rested on Theo's lap and his head in Harry's. He had almost been asleep when Hermione had joined them. 

"That's so unfair." Hermione huffed, gracefully sitting back against the tree next to Blaise. Blaise's cheeks went red as she sat next to him. Blaise had developed a slight crush on her even if Pansy insisted Hermione was a lesbian. Hermione had never confirmed or denied that in any way so no one really knew except for Hermione. 

"Life is unfair," Harry answered, threading his fingers through Draco's hair as the boy fell into another light doze. 

No one had anything to say to that. Well, no one they saw anyway. 

Under a charm, a threat had entered Hogwarts with the help of the newest professor. She was a very smart woman, covering her cunning with pure insanity. She knew no one took her seriously, just a crazy woman with a kink for torture. But underneath, where so few ventured to gaze, she was so much more than that. The man she called master had perished at the hands of a child and she was determined to deliver vengeance. Harry Potter would die. If she had some fun with her nephew along the way, so be it. Oh, the things she would do. 

Draco felt a chill go up his spine, shocking him into full wakefulness. There was something wrong. He could feel the evil radiating from four different parts of the castle, which his magic had attached itself to. "Did you feel that?" Draco asked, sitting up and turning to face Harry. 

"Feel what, Dray?" Harry asked, not having felt anything out of the ordinary.

"There was some kind of chill and this feeling of intense, I don't know, evil maybe? It left this bad taste in my mouth. It's giving me a headache from how pungent it is." Draco's eyes were darting all over the place, looking for the threat. "I feel it. It's spread out all over the castle. There's one really close to us, the other three are somewhere inside." 

He had gotten so panicky that he was now on his feet, hand gripping his wand in his pocket. Harry saw the lake's surface start to ripple and knew Draco needed to calm down. "Come on, Dray. Let's go see your mom and dad. Maybe they can help." 

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe." Draco grabbed Harry's hand with a dazed look and pulled Harry into the castle. Harry looked back at his friends worriedly and they gave him looks full of their own worry. 

"How do you feel that?" Harry asked as Draco briskly led him through tunnels to get to his parent's rooms. 

"I think my magic and the magic in the castle have sort of molded to fit each other over the last month. My magic always gets really sensitive around this time of year, though. Tomorrow is the day Lucius died and the day he gave me this." Draco confessed, running a finger down the white scar on his cheek.

"Mine too. Tomorrow is the day Voldemort tried to kill me and the day Neville's parents died." Harry said.

"We should spend the day together. But right now, I need to find where all of this is coming from. It's like I can sense the magic off of them. They stick out because Hogwarts is mostly light magic, nothing very dark. If anything, there are a couple people whose magic are darker but none like this." Draco said as they waited for the door to open. 

"Hello, boys. What are you doing here?" Narcissa said, opening the door to allow them into the room. 

"Can you get dad? He should hear too." Draco said. 

"Of course," Narcissa said confusedly. 

When everyone had settled down and a house elf had brought them all tea, Draco tried to describe what he was feeling. "It's like there are smudges. I think of it like Hogwarts is a white canvas. Every now and again there's a stroke of greys, some dangerously close to black, but none of them are malicious. That's a whole different feeling. Like someone punched a hole in the canvas. I feel it in four different spots throughout the castle."

"Do you know where they are?" Narcissa asked.

"If I had a map, I could probably point to the general direction. But there is no map of Hogwarts." Draco said. 

Harry and Narcissa both lit up with a shout of "Sirius!" 

Draco and Severus looked to each other, hoping the other person knew what they meant. while Narcissa made her way to the floo, Harry explained. 

"Sirius, Remus, and my dad made a map of Hogwarts when they were here. Sirius keeps it in his library. He used to pull it out and show it to me when I visited. It shows everything. If anyone is in the castle, it can see them, no matter their form or charms placed on them." Harry explained. Just as he finished, Sirius came running into the room. Well, Padfoot did. While Severus complained about dog hair on his couch, the boys laughed as the big dog jumped up to lick all over their faces, only settling down when Draco started to pet him behind the ears. Finally, the dog opted to lay across the whole couch and consequently, across Harry and Draco. 

"Now that everyone is settled down, can we figure out what's happening?" Severus said, snatching the map from Narcissa's hand which caused Sirius to growl in warning. 

"It requires a password, sir. Do you mind?" Harry asked nicely, holding his hand out. Severus hesitantly surrendered the blank parchment and all of them were amazed as Harry said the words "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." and lines of thick black ink spread from his wand to take the shape of the school. Draco gently took the map into his hands and searched all over, hoping to find exactly where all of this evil was hiding. 

He started by the lake where they had been sitting but now that he concentrated, he realized it had moved. Still, he placed his finger there and let his magic do the rest. His finger carved a path through the school, settling in one room. The Slytherin common room. That area held a large concentration of the same magic but both were of separate signatures. The problem was that there were only students in the common room, at least that the map was picking up on, and none of them would have magic like that so young. Real evil took time and pain. Even a seventh year wouldn't be able to achieve that. 

"There is something in the common room. But there are only students there, most of them are first years. They wouldn't have magic so dark. It's either an intruder with crazy powerful charms that tricked the map or it could be a creature. Their magic is completely different compared to a witch or wizard because their magic is adapted to fit a certain environment. I think there's something on the edge of the map, where I presume the forest starts. That's all I got." Draco said, looking dejected that he couldn't locate all of them. Padfoot whined and pushed his cold nose into the crook of Draco's neck to offer his support. Harry slung an arm around his shoulders. 

"You're a first year. You aren't going to know everything. Maybe it would be understandable to feel bad about this if you were older but you're not. You're the youngest kid in the year. I would be worried if your magic had already become able to stretch itself that far not to mention that you were able to inform us of the danger so we can be prepared. You did enough." Severus told his son. 

"I suppose you're right. I just don't want anyone to get hurt." Draco said, looking nervous. 

"Come on. It's Halloween. Go have fun with your friends." Narcissa shooed them from the room and watched them leave with a nervous expression. What was happening and why did Draco have to be a part of it?

The only thing Narcissa was sure of was that this would be a night to remember. If only she could make that a good memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS. Draco went to Hogwarts a year early. In the Harry Potter books, Hermione is almost twelve when she starts so I decided that instead of doing that because I wanted his birthday to be December 31st, I would make him younger than eleven. I am so bad with dates and all that stuff so I just wanted that to be clear. Even If I got the date wrong, these are the facts I was aiming for. Sorry about that. I hope you liked the chapter.


	6. A Dark Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little small look into the shadows and a terrifying night for Draco Malfoy-Snape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might suck. I wrote this after my trip to the hospital for a migraine I still have an have had for the last ten days. So if it's a little off, I'm sorry. <3

Draco was awed by the decorations. Of course, they had decorations like this up every year at the manor but somehow seeing the entire Great Hall of Hogwarts covered in floating pumpkins and streamers and banners was a whole new experience of this magical world he had been born into. He was surprised to see that there was a full moon tonight and that it was shining brightly into the hall from the ceiling, making everything feel darker in the moonlight. 

“This is a lot more effort than my mom dedicates to Halloween,” Blaise said, a look of awe accompanying Draco’s. 

“Same. My mom just makes candies and turns on Halloween movies.” Ron agreed. They had all taken to sitting at whatever table they wanted. Sometimes they would join Ravenclaw with Hermione or with George’s girlfriend, Julie, at Hufflepuff, or Slytherin or Gryffindor. Most of the time they all settled for the Hufflepuff table as they didn’t usually have a problem with it. Today, as it was a holiday and something could very well happen during the feast based on Draco’s discovery today, they all went to sit with their respective houses. 

“I feel weird not sitting with everyone else. I miss Julie. She always knows just which sweets to pass during dessert and she lets me borrow her potions books during meals.” Draco whined, sitting with Harry, Blaise, Theo, Daphne, and Pansy at the end of the Slytherin table. Harry had discovered that Draco liked the attention he got for whining about the most inane of things. For example, he couldn’t find his strawberry conditioner on Monday and, even though Narcissa bought him a new bottle, he still was upset about the missing bottle and had formed a plan of vengeance. 

“You had breakfast and lunch with her. Calm down, Dray. It’s only for the night.” Harry said, rubbing his thumb over the back of Draco’s knuckles. Harry had also discovered that Draco while being an amazing friend, was incredibly clingy. It wasn’t that he got jealous over his friends talking to other people or anything like that but just that he liked to spend a lot of time with his friends so when that was disrupted, he got a little cranky. He had only recently been allowed to eat in the Great Hall as his magic had finally settled into the new area. That week when he was forced to eat in a magic-free box he was definitely combative. 

“That’s kind of lame Draco. You really need her to pass you sweets? Anyone could do that.” Fred’s girlfriend said, slipping into the seat beside Pansy. None of them really liked her as she often said things like that. Fred said she was just being honest but most everyone needs to tell a white lie now and then or keep their mouths shut, especially around Draco who always took things to heart even if he tried to push it to the back of his mind. 

As Draco looked down at his plate in embarrassment, Harry’s anger flared. She wasn’t just being honest or blunt. She was purposely saying hurtful things. “You don’t get to talk to him like that. Just because Draco cares about his friends and doesn’t pretend he doesn’t need anyone doesn’t mean you have the right to mock how he cares for Julie.” 

“Whatever.” She said. Her name was Amanda, Mandy to those that actually like her. So just Fred. Harry had felt a strong dislike for her since Fred introduced her to them. 

“Hey, Draco, can we have a chat outside? It won’t take long. Pinky promise.” Julie had walked over there from her table. Harry looked to see that George had sent her with a look of worry. He didn’t often look that way, usually full of happiness and mischief. 

“Yeah, sure,” Draco said. He hooked his pinky around Julie’s and slipped his hand from Harry’s to follow the third year Hufflepuff. Amanda scoffed as they went and most everyone around her glared. After the whole frumusetea ascunsa thing, most everyone had warmed up to Draco. Most of their house had taken to Draco quite fondly, as well as some of those in other houses. 

Outside, Julie led Draco to an empty classroom across from a girl’s restroom. Over the last month or so, Julie and Draco had become fairly close. They often found themselves confiding in each other and had gained a relationship similar to siblings. 

“George said that you looked upset.” Julie started. 

“I kind of was. That stupid Amanda. I don’t know what Fred sees in her. She’s a real bitch.” Draco answered. The group had been surprised to know that Draco had a large vocabulary of rather horrible words. Sometimes they even had to ask what he was calling them because they had never encountered the word. He claimed to have developed such a vocabulary from Severus Snape himself, another surprise (not really). 

“Yeah. What did she say to you?” Julie asked, spinning her wand between her fingers. 

“I pretty much said that I missed eating dinner with you tonight and she said that it was lame.” Draco still hadn’t met Julie’s eyes. 

“No, it isn’t. I missed you too. You’re my potions buddy.” Both of them laughed for a bit but when the things got quiet again, Julie had another confession. “I’m going to break up with George. It isn’t because I don’t love him. But have you met him? That man is as straight as a rainbow. He seems like more of a brother than anything. I think he’ll understand, maybe even agree. But there is another bit that might get in the way of things.”

“What is it? You can tell me anything.” Draco encouraged. 

“You are only allowed to tell anyone if for some reason it comes up in a life or death situation,” Julie said, looking a bit desperate. 

“Okay.”

“I think I love Fred. As in, more than friends. I know people will think that I left the gay one for the straight one but they aren’t carbon copies of each other. Fred’s a lot sweeter. He’s the one that makes sure the hair dye will come out or someone makes it out okay after a prank. He cares and he is so smart. George is very creative but I think he needs Fred in the actual inventing part.”

“But he’s with Amanda.” Draco finished. 

“But he’s with Amanda.” Julie echoed. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for another moment before that tingle went up Draco’s spine again. Except now it wasn’t a tingle, it felt like an electric shock. He gasped as he felt it and turned towards the door to warn Severus. Through the open door, he met eyes with a troll. 

He screamed. It was in a very manly manner, he’ll have you know. The troll seemed to catch a whiff of the snacks in the classroom because in a matter of seconds he was pushing his way into the door frame. By pushing his way through, I mean he literally pushed it away from the wall. Julie seemed a little frozen with fear but upon seeing Draco almost crushed by bricks, she sprang into action. 

Of course, that didn’t help them much. She was only a third year. No third-year student could take down a mountain troll while trying to protect her younger friend. She only managed to keep the things being thrown at them from hitting them. Someone must have remembered they were gone, or had heard Draco’s very manly scream, and had come looking for them. Unfortunately, or so they thought, it was Harry, Hermione, and Pansy. The rest of them had already been gone to their common rooms when Harry had remembered. Now there were four first years in danger of murder by a troll.

Remembering the charms work they were doing in class, Hermione quickly spotted the the club and had an idea. “Wingardium Leviosa!” She shouted. The club flew out of his hand and the troll’s eyes followed it. The troll went to grab it but before he could, it was knocked down onto his head, succesfully rendering him unconscious. 

“Oh my god. I just knocked out a mountain troll. Are we all okay?” Hermione checked them all over to make sure they were okay. The only one hurt was Draco who had received a brick to his hand. He was pretty sure that two of his fingers were broken. 

Julie had left to get a teacher. Of course, Draco whined a bit about his hand but Harry let it go this time, even indulged it with whispered reassurances. Julie came into the room looking properly chastised and even had tears tracks on her face. She had brought Draco’s parents and McGonnagal from the dungeons where they originally believed the troll had been. 

“Draco! How could you do something so stupid? Both of you could have died.” Severus had already started yelling at Draco, scared out of his mind that his son would have died if Hermione had not mastered the Wingardium Leviosa. Draco’s eyes were already filling with tears and something in Harry told him to protect Draco, even from Severus Snape.

He stepped in front of Draco and found himself saying, “Stop. He knows very well that he could have been hurt worse. We all know that. But he also told you there was a threat to the Hogwarts students inside the school so the best route, in your mind, happened to be to gather them all in one place and then tell them to scatter to their rooms. Need I remind you that the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeon, where the troll was supposed to be. Also, did you almost get killed everytime you pulled a friend into an empty classroom to talk to them? I didn’t think so. So, stop blaming things on your son and try talking to that gutless coward Quirrell. Draco and I will be in the hospital wing to get his hand fixed.” Harry said of this very calmly and the room went dead silent. No one had heard anyone talk to Severus that way before. 

Harry wrapped an arm around Draco’s waist and they left the room. In the hall, Draco had some questions.

“Why did you stop him?” Draco asked.

“He was being ridiculous,” Harry answered. 

“He was probably right though. I knew there was something there too but I didn’t hesitate.” Draco sighed. 

“Maybe. But he shouldn’t yell at you like that after what just happened. Maybe later he could have chastised you but you didn’t know there would be a troll in the halls. Everyone says that this is the safest place in the world.”

Draco couldn’t think of anything to say to that so he didn’t. He and Harry walked the rest of the way to the hospital wing. 

 

Madam Pomfrey was ranting about kids and mountain trolls and she set the bones in Draco’s fingers and placed a splint to keep them still. Draco could have probably gone back to his dorm but the healer insisted he stay overnight to sleep off the skelegrow. Harry was kicked out not long after he got there but promised to come back later when everyone was asleep. 

So Draco settled into the uncomfortable bed and took a dreamless sleep along with the skelegrow. He was out in seconds. Little did he know, someone watching had just found the perfect opportunity. 

From the shadows, a woman emerged for the first time into the light since she had arrived. Yes, this was just perfect.


	7. Asleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something has happened to Draco and it seems there is nothing anyone can do. Or is there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I could have written this better but it's been a stressful week. I hope you like it anyway. I think the content is pretty interesting, even if it could have been written better. Let me know what you think. :)
> 
> PS: I was thinking of doing a chapter that was more about them and their friends rather than all this heavy stuff all the time. Of course, I'll still put some of that in there to further the plot but it won't be so outright. If you have an opinion, let me know.

It had been a week since Draco had been hurt by the mountain troll. He hadn’t woken up since Harry left him there that night. Madam Pomfrey had been frenzied. As far as they knew, Draco hadn’t been injured in any other way. He wasn’t allergic to anything in the potions either. Lily, a charms master, had come to console Harry and deduced that Draco was spelled into sleep. She had informed them that he was essentially trapped in his mind. It was a very dark spell called Mens Captionem and they didn’t know much about it yet. All Lily could tell them was that he would be scared and that they would start trying to find a counterspell. 

On the first day, Harry had been crazy. He had thrown things, exploded potions, screamed at everyone. Madam Pomfrey would have kicked him out of the wing if his presence wasn’t helping keep Draco’s heart rate regular. 

On the second day, he had been in tears. He had curled up in a chair next to Draco’s bed and sobbed. When Sirius had come to visit, Harry clung to him desperately. He and Remus took turns holding Harry in uncomfortable chairs next to Draco’s bed. 

On the third day, Harry said nothing. He barely ate, he answered questions by shaking his head or not at all, and he wouldn’t let anyone touch Draco. Madam Pomfrey had to instruct Harry how to feed Draco the nourishment potions from a distance. 

On the fourth day, Harry climbed into the bed with Draco. He didn’t answer any questions. He didn’t eat anything. He shrugged off any touches. He reacted violently to anyone touching Draco. He still fed Draco his potions, them being for the blonde’s well being. Late in the day, Harry fell into a relaxed sleep, Draco held protectively in his arms. When Severus tried to remove them, angry at not being able to touch his son, he was thrown back against the wall. No one touched them after that. 

 

Draco had opened his eyes to darkness. There was absolutely nothing around him and he reached up to check that his eyes were really open. He found himself looking at his hand, which was glowing silver. Looking down, he saw that his whole body fit that description. 

“Hello?” He called into the emptiness, feeling incredibly lonely and a bit scared. 

“Hi, Draco.” He heard behind him. He spun around to face...himself. 

“What-what’s happening?” He asked, stunned by the malicious curl of his own lip. 

“You’ve been trapped here, you imbecile. You knew there was something dangerous and you go and get yourself injured by one so you could get trapped by another. Can you imagine what you’re doing to Harry by going and putting yourself in these situations?” Now that he thought about it, Draco realized that the light pull he normally had to Harry that had situated itself in the back of his mind that night in the hospital wing was strained. They had both felt it and both admitted they felt more comfortable with it. Sometimes, they could catch each other’s emotions if they concentrated. Now, Draco was catching intense waves of anger and fear from Harry. 

“Oh. How do I get out?” Draco asked, turning to face himself again only to find his father glaring at him. 

“You don’t.” He smirked and lifted his wand. “Crucio.” He snarled. For the first, but not the last time, Draco screamed. 

 

Harry fell into his dreams with little struggle. He had been begging for the release from the pain he felt from Draco. Not for himself, but for his best friend. He himself didn’t feel the pain but rather a phantom form of it. Even that was nearly unbearable. 

In the darkness he slipped into, he could hear screams. Screams brought on through something akin to agony. He ran to the sound. It was the worst thing he had ever heard, the screams of someone he truly loved. 

“Draco!” He called, searching everywhere for the familiar blond hair. It felt like he was running for hours, calling for him. 

“How could you think he cares about you? You couldn’t even get friends until you were eleven, Merlin knows why they spend time with you, and you think someone wants to be around you forever. How delusional can you get?” Harry heard the voice and felt another pang go through his chest. He turned to the sound and saw Draco. He was in a heap on the ground, body shaking with sobs. Lucius Malfoy stood directly in front of him, a sneer on his face and a frightening look in his eyes. 

“Draco.” Harry sighed dropping next to Draco without a thought. The boy looked at him and threw himself into Harry’s arms. Harry felt immense relief until he heard the shout of rage from Lucius. 

“You aren’t meant to be here! How could Bella let this happen? This is just the thing she was meant to prevent.” Lucius was talking to himself now, looking wild. 

“Come on, Draco. We need to find a way out. We need to get away from him, too.” Harry hauled Draco to his feet. With a last glance at Lucius, they grabbed hands and ran. 

Of course, there wasn’t much to run to. Harry remembered what he had heard his mother say about the spell and had an idea. 

“Draco. My mother says they spelled you into your own mind. So logically, if this is your mind, you can determine what happens. You need to make us an exit. We need a way out and only you can find it.” Draco took in everything Harry said with wide eyes. Looking back, he saw his father catching up to them. 

“Okay. Just don’t let go of me for any reason. I know where to go but I don’t know where you’ll end up if we aren’t together.” Harry agreed and Draco closed his eyes. He concentrated very hard on what he was thinking, trying to block out Lucius’s increasingly louder yells. 

There was a flash of light and everything changed. Draco opened his eyes and grinned as he found himself in a familiar area. His parents had discovered a maze on one of the Malfoy properties. It was huge, about 25 acres. Draco had spent years of his childhood running through this maze. He had memorized the whole thing from beginning to end. He also knew, however, that he had imagined the maze as being filled with challenges and he wasn’t positive he had been able to fully separate that from this maze. He explained as much as Harry. 

“How will we know if you were able to?” Harry asked worriedly. 

“We won’t, not until we finish the maze or run into one of them,” Draco answered with a shrug. 

“Well, if it is full of challenges Lucius will have to face them too. If this was on a Malfoy property, he may know the route as well, maybe even better.” 

“I suppose we should get a move on then.” 

With that, they entered the maze. It was a while before they found themselves face to face with their first challenge. A wall. 

“This was never here before. I’ve been through this maze so many times that I probably know it better than my own house and this wall was never here.” It was a large brick wall covered in vines. The vines gave off a putrid stench that Draco was able to identify as a calamity potion. It caused the person that touched it to go into organ failure. Severus had told him about it once when he had read about it in a book. 

“How do we get passed it?” Harry asked. 

“We could cut the vines,” Draco suggested. 

“With what?”

“With this, I suppose.” Draco had noticed a sharp blade in the grass after he had made the suggestion and picked it up. 

“That’s a neat trick you got there.” Harry laughed as Draco used the blade to slice through the relatively thin vines. When they were all removed, the bricks crumbled to the ground before disappearing entirely. Harry and Draco came across two more walls that were similar but covered with new things. One of them was stone and covered in flowers that Draco had to tediously cut off. The other had been iron and covered with little weeds growing out of them. 

It was another twenty minutes before they reached a new challenge. A sphinx. 

“Hello, boys. I assume you would like to leave this maze?” She strolled leisurely back in forth in front of the turn that Draco knew would be three from the exit. 

“Yes. Though I suppose you’re meant to stop us.” Draco answered. 

“Delay is a more appropriate term. I have a riddle for you.” She smiled. 

I can break, I can be clogged, I can be attacked, I can be given, I can be kept, I can be crushed yet I can be whole at the same time. What am I?

Harry looked confused and asked her to repeat it but Draco barely noticed, mind lost in concentration. 

“Break...fragile...crushed….clogged? Must be...but no...oh!” Draco mumbled to himself. Harry could practically see the wheels turning in Draco’s mind and understood why Draco and Hermione had become such fast friends

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“It must be a heart.” 

“A heart?”

“Well, I imagine the description could likely fit other things, like a pipe, for example, but I went a more abstract route. I didn’t think a pipe was something that fit those descriptions regularly.” Draco looked confused as to why Harry had to ask. 

“Of course you would say that. You are something else, Draco.” Harry smiled. 

“Thank you, I suppose.” Draco smiled back. 

“You two certainly are different. I see it now. I haven’t seen a prieteni inimii bond since Godric and Salazar. Now I think about it, you two remind me of them a great deal.” She smiled moving to the side so they could pass. “Be careful boys. We always think ourselves safe until we are faced with danger. Don’t let it creep up on you, or you may never get past it.”

Harry and Draco nodded respectfully, if a bit grimly, at the Sphinx and made their way to the next turn. 

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Draco said as they walked the path once more. 

“For what?” 

“For dragging you into all of this. I was the one in a pathetic trap by my father. You didn’t have to be here and go through all of this.” 

“Yes, I did. Draco, if you haven’t realized yet, I love you. We’ve been friends only a couple months but you are one of the most important people in my life. Now that you’re in my life, I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

They stopped walking as Draco tackled Harry in a hug and knocked both of them to the ground, the smaller boy landing on Harry. Harry didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Draco, as well, with a fond smile. They got up after a moment and continued walking. What they found at the end of the maze took the breath out of both of them in shock and fear. Standing before them was a snake. A snake that was larger than anything either of them had ever seen. A snake that was looking at both of them with hungry eyes.


	8. Quiet Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few things are resolved and there's an insight into how Draco's been feeling lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. First I had the flu and as soon as I was over that I got a cold and bronchitis, both of which I still have. I missed a lot of days at school too and had so much work to catch up on. I've been feeling so guilty for not posting but I hope you understand. This is a bit short because I just wanted to get something up here for you. I think some of it is quite cute though, so I hope that makes up for the wait and the length. <3

Harry and Draco looked into the large snake’s unwavering gaze. It was a look that made you feel looked through and yet they felt as though this creature knew every detail about them. It seemed to smile at them before moving away and leaving the exit of the maze unguarded. Harry and Draco looked at each other confusedly for a second before Harry shrugged and pulled Draco through the exit. Everything went dark.

 

Poppy Pomfrey had never been so nervous. She was normally confident in her skills and just about anyone who had met her could tell you that she was one of the best. But when Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy lay in her hospital wing, unconscious, she was terrified. The boys had easily wormed their way into her heart since the school year had started and she found that she had grown quite fond of them.

 

When their eyelids started fluttering, Poppy was the first person there. She had forced their parents out when James and Severus had started fighting. Again. She hesitated to touch them or cast any spells on them, remembering what Harry had done to Severus. She knew the boy hadn’t meant to react in such a way but remained cautious none the less.

 

Harry groaned and raised the hand that wasn’t holding Draco to his chest to rub at his eyes. Draco gave a sleepy sigh and turned to bury his face in Harry’s neck. Poppy smiled and called out to them.

 

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy. How are you feeling?” Harry turned his head to look at her and she barely caught Draco’s silver eyes peeking at her.

 

“I feel fine. I think Draco does too.” At this point, Draco gave a thumbs up. “Where is everyone?” Harry spoke for them.

 

“I kicked them out. Severus, Sirius, and James kept fighting and I got tired of them. I can call them up here if you like.” Draco giggled when she said that the men had been fighting and neither Harry or Poppy could resist the smiles that broke out at his laughter. Draco often heard his father speak of how annoying he found the Potter family and their friends but he found it rather amusing that grown men had this kind of schoolyard rivalry.

 

“Would you, please?” Draco asked, not moving from his spot. As Poppy left to firecall them rambunctious group, Harry and Draco were left on their own.

 

“Are you really okay?” Harry asked Draco worriedly.

 

“Not really. But there isn’t much Poppy can do about it. I’m scared, Harry.” Draco whispered the last part and the only thing Harry could think to do was hug him again. They stayed that way for a while until the sound of a door slamming open made them jump. They still kept a firm grip on each other’s hands, though.

 

“Draco?” Draco heard the familiar voice of Severus Snape and promptly leaped from the bed. As soon as Severus was visible, Draco flung himself into the potion master’s arms with a sob.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to speak with Julie and then that horrible thing was there but Harry saved me and I just feel so guilty for making you disappointed in me.” Draco rambled. Severus tried many times to interrupt him but could not as the boy seemed unable to stop even himself.

 

“Draco. I forgave you ten minutes after you did it. I love you so much and when you were there in mortal danger and I had been unable to do anything to save you, it terrified me. I’m sorry I was so harsh on you. I love you, Draco.” Draco was now sobbing into Severus’s shoulder even harder. Narcissa watched them with watery eyes and a sad smile.

 

Lily and James and Sirius and Remus were all asking Harry what happened but he refused to say anything until he was sure Draco was okay with him sharing.

 

“Draco, is it alright if I tell them what happened?” Harry asked.

 

Draco wiggled out of Severus’s arms to resume his place next to Harry once his crying had calmed a bit. There were still tear tracks on his cheeks and his eyes were red, a tear still slipping out every now and again. “I should start. You weren’t there in the beginning. You can take over when we get to the point that you showed up. I think you should call our friends down here though. I don’t fancy telling the story twice.”

 

Harry and Draco specified exactly who to gather and they were quickly able to get their friends and family gathered worriedly around their bed. That included Severus, Narcissa, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Julie, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Pansy, Blaise, Neville, Daphne, and Theo.  The large group was shifting nervously as Draco gathered his courage and his thoughts.

 

“Well, I was asleep…

 

_The room was so very quiet, something Draco had craved the last few days. It felt like his world was falling apart throughout the year. Everything was changing and he had little to no time to digest it all before the next thing came along. Of course, he was happy that he had met his friends and especially Harry but he missed his parents and the comforting quiet of the manor he had grown up in. It was easy to fall into the silence and before he knew it, he was asleep._

 

_A dark figure moved from the shadows and Bellatrix Lestrange leaned over her nephew, a terrifying gleam in her eye and a malicious grin on her red stained lips. Her pale fingers clamped harshly over Draco’s mouth, making his silver eyes snap open with fear._

 

_“Hello, Draco. I hear you haven’t been maintaining our pureblood ideals as well as you should have. You may have survived all those years ago because of your daddy Snape but there’s no one to save you now, boy.” She grinned and pressed her wand to his temple and with a whisper of “mens captionem,” Draco’s visioned blacked once more…._

 

“...Then the snake looked at us oddly for a bit before moving. I still don’t understand why but I’m not complaining. As soon as we left the maze we were waking up here.” Harry finished, having taken up the tale from the point he had gotten there.

 

“Oh, Merlin. I’m so sorry that happened to you, Draco. I knew we shouldn’t leave you here, unprotected, after what had happened. We really need to work on that.” Narcissa had taken up residence right beside Draco and her grip on his hand was tight, a bit too tight. Severus’s face was carefully blank but even he could not hide the pain at what his son had been through.

 

“I think you boys should eat. I’ll go speak to the house elves and see if we can’t get you something good to eat.” Julie’s eyes looked suspiciously red as she left the room to follow through on her promise. Hermione and Pansy offered to help and followed after her with worried eyes.

 

Draco internally groaned, knowing that the pitying looks would take a while to stop and that they wouldn’t ever stop treating him like a baby. He was grateful, though, that they cared.

It was later that night and Harry and Draco had finally gotten back to their dorm room. They were comfortable on Harry’s bed, Harry with his head in Draco’s lap as Draco read above him.

 

“What are you reading?” Harry asked, breaking Draco’s concentration.

 

“The chapter for potions homework,” Draco answered.

 

“We don’t have to read that for another week,” Harry said.

 

“I just- I just need to find something else to focus on.” Draco wouldn’t meet Harry’s eyes.

 

“Hey. You said you missed the quiet.” Harry got up from his position on the bed, pulling Draco up too. He pulled back the covers and gestured for Draco to lay back down. He took the potions book and bookmarked it, setting it on the desk. “How about we just be quiet for a bit. You and I will lay here on this bed and not say anything unless you want to. We can talk about anything you want or we can just lay here until we fall asleep. I promise that I won’t let anything hurt you. Do you trust me, Draco?”

 

“I trust you,” Draco whispered. Harry took the spot next to him and they turned to face each other. Their fingers interlocked in the space between them and for the next few hours, they said nothing as they slowly fell into the comfort of sleep. It was the happiest Draco had felt all year.


	9. Figured Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is very wrong with Fred. What could be bothering him so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna say that I'm so sorry, but I did warn you. I have trouble with any kind of regular schedule posting chapters. But I have been writing this chapter whenever I had some free time. It's not very long and it's definitely not a favorite of mine but here it is. I hope you like it.

“Oof,” Draco said as he was knocked into consciousnesses, curling into the warmth that had lulled him into sleep the night before but he found that space was cold and empty. He opened his eyes and turned to see Harry grinning at him from behind with dripping hair and suspiciously holding a pillow, a pillow that Draco suspected was the cause of his wakefulness. 

“Harrrry, I’m cold.” Draco wined, curling up in the blankets again. 

Harry sat down on the bed and Draco instantly moved to lay his head in the other boy’s lap. “Our friends are waiting for us. We are supposed to be going to breakfast now but I convinced them to wait for you to take a shower. They wanted to just leave you here to miss class.”

“Remind me why they’re our friends again?” Draco groaned as he stretched. 

“Mostly because they don’t stare at us like we’re freaks.” Harry laughed. Most people in the school seemed unable or unwilling to leave them alone most of the time. It was rather annoying. 

“I suppose that’s true, mostly. Tell them I’ll be right down.” Draco grabbed his toiletries and rushed to take a shower, not wanting to be abandoned by his friends. 

 

“Is the princess coming with us?” Blaise asked impatiently. Theo snickered from his spot on the couch where he was calmly reviewing his Transfiguration notes with Daphne. 

“Shut up, Blaise. He’s taking a shower and then he’ll be right down. Also, I know you guys were all worried last night but try not to treat him like glass. You know he hates that.” Harry sighed, falling into the chair by the fire to wait for Draco. Pansy was in the other chair and Blaise was pacing behind the couch. Amanda, Fred’s girlfriend, brushed past them, knocking Blaise into the couch and disturbing Theo and Daphne. Harry could tell she was upset and he hoped that Fred had finally gotten smart and dumped her. 

“So I’m guessing we’re sitting at the Hufflepuff table today, huh?” Pansy smirked, eyes not moving from her magazine. Just then, Draco bounded down the stairs. 

“Of course we are, Pansy, darling,” Draco said, making them all startle at the new voice. 

Draco pulled Harry out of his seat and out of the common room, knowing his friends would follow. Blaise looked at the other occupants of the room and muttered “Yes, princess.” before following the blonde. 

 

Their Gryffindor friends were already sitting with Julie when they walked in but they moved over to make room for Draco to sit next to her. The Hufflepuff girl had felt incredibly guilty about what happened. They had reassured her multiple times that it wasn’t her fault but she had refused to believe that. She and Draco were like siblings and she felt as though she had shoved her little brother into the grips of something horrible. 

“Hey, Julie. Hey guys. Since it’s the weekend, we have to do something fun.” Draco said, falling into his seat gracefully. 

“Like what?” Ron asked around a mouthful of food. Draco spared a moment to glare in disgust before answering.

“I don’t know. I just hate how much we’ve been stuck in this castle. Everything has felt so hectic all year.” Draco sighed. Harry squeezed his hand in sympathy. 

“We could do something outside,” Harry suggested.

“I don’t know. I need to study.” Hermione said, Theo and Daphne nodding in agreement. 

“I know a nice spot by the lake. You guys can study and we can have some fun.” Draco reasoned. It was practically impossible to deny Draco, especially when he turned sad grey eyes on them. 

“Well, I suppose that is alright.” Hermione relented. Just then, Fred, the only one who that was missing until that point, sat down opposite of Hermione. 

“What’s alright?” He asked, only catching the tail end of the conversation. 

“We’re going out to the lake after breakfast. Would you like to come?” Julie smiled at Fred. No one else noticed but Draco definitely caught the blush on her cheeks. 

“Sure. That sounds fun.” It was the first time that Fred sounded genuinely excited since he had started dating Amanda. It had seemed like the girl pulled all the life from him. They fought all the time. Draco supposed that he must have broken up with her without telling them. He figured Fred would tell them when he was ready. 

But he didn’t. Weeks passed and Fred said nothing. His mood got increasingly worse. Whenever someone asked about Amanda, he would say that nothing had happened. Once, when Julie had pushed a little more, he made her cry, yelling at her loud enough to be heard from the opposite side of the portrait hole in Gryffindor tower. Draco felt uncomfortable around him. He could feel Fred’s magic, as he could with everyone else, and found it tinted with something that made his heart race in fear, though he couldn’t figure out what it was. 

Harry and Draco snuck out of their dorm one night, intent on exploring the castle some more. They easily fit under the cloak together and had opted to wear just their socks so as to avoid making sound with their feet. As they rounded the corner, they came to stand at the bottom of the staircase leading to Gryffindor tower. There was shouting not far from them and one of the voices was quite recognizable. The other was raspy and demanding. 

“No! Stop it! Let me go!” That was Fred. Looking around the corner, they found him bound by ropes to a pillar and struggling. Draco could no longer feel the tainted edge he had previously felt in Fred’s magic. 

“You think you have any right to tell me what to do, boy. The only reason I’ve freed you for the moment is for information. Dumbledore won’t tell anyone about the Malfoy boy. But his friends would know all about it, wouldn’t they? So you’re going to tell me all about it or I will put an end to that precious Hufflepuff girl you like so much.” The voice was raspy and unfamiliar to either of them but the magic wasn’t. The magic belonged to their favorite Slytherin, Amanda, but Draco felt the same feeling in her magic that he previously felt in Fred's.

Draco gestured for Harry to follow him, which he did reluctantly. They found an empty classroom nearby and made sure to put up a silencing charm. 

“I know that you want to help Fred right now but we won’t be any help to him. Amanda’s magic may be twisted and she may be a bitch in every sense of the word but she has power. A lot of it. She also knows much more than us in terms of spell casting.” Draco interrupted Harry before he could even speak. Draco often joked that Harry should have been a Gryffindor with his quick decisions and high courage. 

“Then what do you think we should do? Let that monster hurt him like that?” Harry was mad, his cheeks growing warm with anger at Draco’s unwillingness to act fast. 

“I’m not saying that. I'm saying that we can’t do this here, now, or alone. We can’t rush into this with brandished wands. What are we gonna do, blind her with Lumos? No, we need reinforcements.” Draco was smirking now, in a way that made Harry slightly worried. 

“Go on,” Harry said, hoping Draco had a plan. 

 

Go on he did. Draco told Harry his whole plan and a brilliant plan it was. The next morning, they managed to gather Pansy, Blaise, Theo, Hermione, Julia, Daphne, Ron, Neville, and George into the room of requirement, which Draco had forced a house elf to show them to. 

“So I have a plan. I know we all know that Fred has been acting odd recently. Well, I think I have an idea as to why. Harry and I found Fred and Amanda in a corridor by Gryffindor tower when we were exploring last night. He sounded so scared and confused. Amanda was speaking in this horrible rasp like nothing I’ve ever heard. She basically said that he had to tell her all about my frumusetea ascunsa or she would hurt Julie. I’m pretty sure he said no, which is why he’s been acting like a mindless zombie all day.”

Julie was nearly in tears as she asked, “So what do we do?” 

“We save him, of course.” Harry butted in. 

He and Draco grinned at each other. A brilliant plan, indeed.


End file.
